BRHS wrestlers take third straight state title

A crowd gathers to welcome home the BRHS Warriors at the airport Sunday night.

Bethel Regional High School has claimed its third straight state wrestling championship, squarely beating out teams from across the state including Kotzebue, Dillingham and Valdez.

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The BRHS Warriors landed at the Bethel Airport Sunday night carrying some precious cargo: the state 123A wrestling trophy.

A crowd gathered at the gate holding signs, with some standing on top of the baggage carousel to get a better view.

Head Coach Darren Lieb and his team come out of the gate wearing tired smiles.

“It feels good, it feels really good. It’s good to see the kids smiling. They had big grins last night after they announced it and this whole thing at the airport is pretty cool for them. They really enjoy this kind of thing,” Lieb said.

For the third year in a row his team has stepped off the plane as state champions.

Lieb said his team wrestled well in Nikiski on Friday and Saturday.

BRHS Wrestlers made it to four finals’ matches. With Trevor Chavez taking the lone title for the warriors in the 160 lb weight class.

Even with just one state title wrestler, BRHS beat out the competition for the overall title.

BRHS had 187 total points, Kotzebue came in second with 139.5 followed by host school Nikiski with 130.5 and Dillingham and Valdez rounding out the top five.

For Coach Lieb and his team, they are just glad to come back to the YK Delta champions yet again.

“It feels real good. You know it’s always hectic, you run into Anchorage and try to do your shopping stuff and you know it’s Sunday afternoon and everyone is out doing the same thing. But once you get passed through security it’s all like relaxed. So it’s nice to be home,” Lieb said.